Medwit Jan & Maria

File 4067 Medwit, Jan Medwit, Maria During the years 1939-1941, Jan Medwit lived in Przemyśl and worked together with Adolf Gruft, a resident of the town. In the autumn of 1941, Gruft, his wife and seven-year-old daughter Stella moved to Kraków. After they were imprisoned in the ghetto there, Gruft urgently appealed to Medwit, begging him to save his daughter Stella. The Medwits agreed to take the little Jewish girl into their home, and taking great risks, Medwit took her from Kraków to Przemyśl. The Medwits fell in love with little Stella and treated her with loving-kindness. They prepared a hiding place for her behind a cupboard, where she had to remain whenever a neighbor or acquaintance came to the house. Stella’s parents perished and the child remained under the care of her benefactors until 1945, when Stella’s uncle came and took her with him to Israel. The Medwits never asked for or received any payment whatever for saving the Jewish child and their actions were motivated by a past friendship that stood the test of the times. On February 22, 1989, Yad Vashem recognized Maria Medwit and her husband Jan Medwit as Righteous Among the Nations.